((Just as a timeline FYI, my next post will most likely be the BIG REVEAL so be prepared for that!))

MadderJanobii and Madder_Hatter
Exploration Team Moonlight Madness
Spawning in Discovery Town
Affected RP'ers: None

"So our first mission... we have to venture into the dungeon called Echo Forest and retrieve Johnson the Klefki's missing gold key. Doesn't sound too tough right?" Sloane said as she and Brent traveled across the town. Madder shook his head, smiling a little. It didn't sound tough at all. But then again, first missions rarely were. Still, they were both low levels, so they needed to be careful anyway. Even something as simple as a pidgey could cost them if they did not tread carefully. "We should get another team to come with us!" Sloane suddenly announced. Brent raised his eyebrows then shrugged.

"Sure why not. It would make the dungeon crawl much easier, that's for sure." Madder lifted his paw and brought up the settings menu. He pushed a button and sent out a request for a team to accompany them through the Echo Forest mission. A few minutes later, Team Harmonic Wildfire had answered their request. The two teams decided to meet in the center of town. Sloane and Brent searched around when they noticed a Type: Null and a Litten started to walk their way.

"MadderJanobii and Madder_Hatter?" the Type: Null asked as he approached. Sloane's jaw literally hit the floor, causing the Type: Null to chuckle. "Yes, you're not seeing things. For some odd reason this is a possible result of the quiz. Why, I'm not sure, but I feel like this is the definition of OP if you ask me." He bowed a little and introduced himself, "As you may already know, I am OcarinaCypher and this is my partner Sibermask, and we are Team Harmonic Wildfire. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." Brent glanced over at Sloane, the cyndaquil still a little starstruck, forcing Brent to make their introduction. Brent tipped his hat a little.

"Madder_Hatter and MadderJanobii, though you can just called us Madder and Janobii, and we're Team Moonlight Madness. I'll be candid, I was not expecting this when you answered my request. Given we're all still level 5 I am guessing you guys haven't taken on the first mission either." OcarinaCypher shook his head.

"No sir! Siber and I were just searching for someone to partner with for the first mission and your team was the first one on the list. Have you played a PMD game before? Do you know how this goes?"

"Of course!" Sloane responded quickly, puffing out her chest a little. "I've played them all! Well except the Wii Ware games and Red Rescue Team but Blue Rescue Team was my first Pokémon game! And Madder's played a bunch too! You're dealing with veterans here." Siber chuckled and pointed towards the path to the dungeons.

"Well then, it seems this is a veterans party. Shall we take leave on our adventure then?" With nods all around, the two teams linked up and started down the path to Echo Forest. It was decided that instead of splitting up into two groups, at least for the first few floors, the two teams would stick together in case they needed to play support with each other. The dungeon was seven floors in total, with the seventh floor being a clearing where the item was located. It was obvious right off that Sloane and Siber had an obvious advantage in this grass and bug infested dungeon. The cyndaquil and litten took point, burning their way through the entire dungeon. It also became pretty evident that despite being a Type: Null, given it didn't have any egg moves, Cypher did not have as much OPness as the quartet had all anticipated. It would probably become evident in the future, but for right now he was about as powerful as a magikarp with tackle. Still, the dungeon was a total breeze, the four players tearing through the six floors of dungeon crawling like the veterans they were. Dungeon strategy was practically ingrained into their DNA, so they were at the clearing in no time.

Gleaming in the center of the Echo Forest clearing was Johnson's golden key. Siber started to approach it when a scream echoed across the forest and sound wave blasted the litten back. Siber tumbled to Cypher's feet, causing the Type: Null to growl as a noibat and two whismur spawned in between the teams and the key. Of course it wouldn't be this easy. This was supposed to be the most difficult PMD game to date, why wouldn't there be a boss on the first mission. To make matters worse, Siber had already taken damage from what was most likely an Echoed Voice attack.

"Stay behind me, Siber," Cypher instructed, "Try to use Heat Wave to widdle down their health! Madder, you think you can copycat him on that?" Madder saluted, stepping back with Siber in preparation of battle as the noibat and whismur drew closer. Cypher looked at Sloane and smiled a little (not that it was really obvious). "You and I are going to take them down with Leer, Rage, and Tackle spam. Sound good?" Sloane nodded, pumping her arms a little as she bounced in excitement. It was the first boss battle! Sloane turned to her opponents and made the first move, charging in for a tackle and knocking one of the whismur back. Cypher charged at the same time, striking the other whismur. Siber released a heat wave with Madder right behind him with a copycat heat wave. It didn't take much for the whismur to be knocked out, the two only having about 30 HP. However, the noibat was a different matter. Fire attacks barely tickled it, so just tackles would have to do. The four players encircled the noibat, even at a higher level than the whismur it couldn't survive an alliance attack from all of them. The noibat began to panic as they drew closer, and that's when it happened. The noibat let out a screeching sound in panic then tackled Siber. The litten was caught off guard and thrown back. Worst of all, it was a critical hit!

"Siber!" Cypher yelled as the litten's figure disappeared. Strangely though, no game over message appeared, as was routine when the partner fainted in a dungeon. The three remaining players stared at one another in confusion, allowing the noibat to tackle Sloane as well. "Hey!" Cypher charged and slammed into the noibat, Madder jumping into the frey as well. The barrage of attacks was too much, and the noibat fainted. Sloane walked over to retrieve the key then looked at Cypher.

"Maybe he's back in Discovery Town," she offered, "it's possible because you were with us it didn't force you to start over." Cypher looked bothered for some unknown reason but nodded in response, hoping that was the answer. The three warped out of the dungeon, returning to right outside of the guild. The three looked around for Siber, but there was no sign of the litten. Where could he have gotten off to? "Maybe he's inside?" Cypher seemed to grow more worried by the minute but nodded in agreement again. The three entered the Arcane Keep and approached the stairs when Cypher froze. Sloane and Brent turned to see what the matter was when Cypher said,

"I-I... what?" Cypher was currently looking at a message box in front of him. Sloane approached slowly, moving to Cypher's side to catch a glimpse of the message box. It read:
Dear OcarinaCypher,
We regret to inform you that your partner's save data has been lost. This error can be attributed to a variety of things, including hacking attempts, back internet connection, or a corrupted handling device. You will not be penalized for this loss, however, your partner will not be allowed to sign up again for at least 24 hours in case of possible hacking risks. If they return, your partner will be allowed to rejoin your team. However, should they not, we highly advise you join another team, as you will not be able to take on an NPC or a player partner at this time due to the circumstances.
Thank you,
GM

Silence settled over the three as they took it all in. Was there a glitch in the game? Poor Siber was probably freaking out back at his house. Sloane reached over and pat Cypher. She wasn't sure what to say in comfort but she thought maybe a pat on the leg would work! Cypher glanced in her direction before saying,

"Something's wrong. Siber's my best friend. Sure we like to hack but we always play the game through in true first before we start to mess around. He swore he wouldn't try anything funny with this game too. I don't... I don't think he had any of those other issues either but he does live down the street from me. Maybe I should log out and go check on him." That was a sound idea. Maybe something had happened at Siber's place that had caused this.

"Well, if it doesn't work out, you're more than welcome to join Madder and I's team." Brent gave a nod in approval when Cypher looked his way. Cypher reached out and pat both players on their heads.

"Thank you, I appreciate it. I'd give you a hug but I'm like twice your size so headpats will have to do I suppose." Cypher raised his claw and brought up the menu, only to frown in confusion. "Hm... guys have you tried logging out since you got here?" Sloane shook her head then looked at Brent, who also shook his head. "There's no logout button on the menu," Cypher said. He lowered himself to the ground to show the cyndaquil and zorua. Sure enough there wasn't a logout option! Now that was odd.

"Maybe there's a kangeskhan rock in town!" Brent suggested, "Remember in the trailer there's supposed to be one near the park! You can logout there." Brent took off with Sloane and Cypher right behind, racing down the path from the Arcane Keep to Discovery Town. Weaving through the streets, the trio approached the park and sure enough at the entrance stood a Kangeskhan statue, but the chatter from the folks standing near it was disheartening as reality came crashing in.

"Why won't this work! It won't let me interact with it at all!"

"There's not one anywhere in the guild! Didn't the screenshots show one?"

"The beta testers said all of these allowed logout functionality!"

"Has anyone contacted a GM?"

This was not good. This was not good at all.